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Meet the suspects/meet the victims

Part 2

The second and final part of our guide to the mysterious house guests on Soldier Island in Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE – at NST Campus (Nuffield) Southampton from 23-26 January 2019 – you can book here

#ChristieOnCampus

In order of appearance continued – you’ll have to see the play for the order of disappearance

‘Mr Davis’– Stephen Fenerty

This well-built and extremely bullish middle-aged house guest isn’t what he seems from the moment he steps foot on the island. Is he a South African millionaire as he claims or something else altogether: a “bit of a bad hat” with a history of corruption.

General Mackenzie – Chris Aland

The oldest of the house guests, the General’s glory days are long behind him. Expecting a short holiday with Army chums, Mackenzie can be vague and detached: he misses his late wife terribly and appears guilt-ridden about a terrible choice that he once made…

Mackenzie – Chris Aland

‘Davis’ – Stephen Fenerty

Emily Brent – Alison Wells

Justice Wargrave – Gavin Costigan

Dr Armstrong – Hannah Harrison

Emily Brent – Alison Wells

Rigid, ruthless and extremely religious, Miss Brent doesn’t suffer fools (or anyone) gladly. Although she reads the Bible every day, she lacks basic humanity – and refuses to take any responsibility for the tragic suicide of a young servant girl in her employ.

Judge Lawrence Wargrave– Gavin Costigan

A retired judge, Justice Wargrave is intelligent and watchful, with an air of natural authority and commanding manner that mark him out as a natural leader. Could this man of the law have really sent an innocent man to the gallows?

Dr Armstrong– Hannah Harrison

A successful medical practitioner in the man’s world of 1950’s medicine, Elizabeth Armstrong has built a lucrative Harley Street practice as an in-demand nerve specialist. Her no-nonsense exterior may not be all it seems: did her respectability and success come at a price?

SUP proudly presents Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE at NST Campus theatre from Wed 23-Sat 26 January 2019 – tickets from just £10. Concessions and group bookings available.

Moving into uncharted waters: the claustrophobia of Soldier Island

Director Paul Green is happy to report that the fear, suspicion and paranoia are coming along very nicely indeed

We are now well into rehearsals proper: time flies when you’re bumping people off, twice a week, and things are moving ahead at a cracking pace. A combination of good preparation and cast commitment meant we’d run through the play, in its entirety, in only the first three rehearsals.

The cast of SUP’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

I’ve had the actors physically exploring the acting space, and pinpointing those moments of high tension.

I’ve deliberately designed a minimal set to accommodate 10 adults moving around it at the same time, at different speeds and in different ways. It’s like an elegant and sometimes disturbing dance. The cast (or rather, their characters) are coming to grips with who they should be close to, who they suspect and – crucially – how they move through the space.

It’s fascinating to watch.

This approach has already led to “bursts” of simultaneous movement that create some extremely engaging stage pictures.

There are also moments of (relative) calm and stillness, which seek to highlight those times of more frenetic action, and ratchet up the tension.

We want to stay one step ahead of our audiences, wrong-footing them, and serving up the unexpected, even when they think they know the material.

There will be a free-flowing feel to our version as opposed to the formulaic and very static “sitting down” murder mystery style common in other productions. Despite the large stage space that we’ll have at NST Campus, we want our audiences to be sucked into the story and to really share the claustrophobia of these dark characters who are trapped on Soldier Island…

So, even if you do know the story well, our promise is to show you AND THEN THERE WERE NONE like you’ve never seen it before: as Christie intended it, all those years ago. And you did know there are two alternate endings for the play, didn’t you?

Not exactly “Love Island”

Closely linked to the movements, and particularly who each victim/suspect gravitates towards, the characters are all developing extremely well. It’s especially interesting to see the moments when different pairings come together and split apart as the action moves on.

Importantly, the actors continue to embrace all the challenges I’m throwing at them, which is great to see, and they seem to be having a blast.

It’s very much “a company” already, and we’re now moving into phase two of rehearsals. The scripts will be put down shortly (although some actors are almost there already) and I can promise lots more surprises, scares, jumps and tense action to come…

Follow our continued progress in future blogs. Please remember to tell your friends, family and colleagues about the show – and book early to get the seats you want

SUP proudly presents Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE at NST Campus theatre from Wed 23-Sat 26 January 2019 – tickets from just £10. Concessions and group bookings available.

Meet the suspects/meet the victims

Part 1

Your guide to the mysterious house guests on Soldier Island in Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE – at NST Campus Southampton from 23-26 January 2019

In order of appearance – you’ll have to see the play for the order of disappearance

Mr Rogers– Jonathan Shepherd

An upright and dignified Devon man, Rogers the butler is a “proper servant” in every sense. But do he and his wife harbour a dark secret from a previous employer? It’s strange they only arrived on Soldier Island a few days before the rest of the house guests assembled…

Mrs Rogers – Anna Hussey

Capable housekeeper and loyal wife, Mrs Rogers is also unafraid to take the odd swipe at her husband and is quick to complain about the gaggle of incoming guests she has to cook and clean for, and with her mistress nowhere to be seen. Is she as frail as she appears?

Rogers – Jonny Shepherd

Mrs Rogers – Anna Hussey

Lombard – Paul Cresser

Vera – Jess Capes

Marston – Alex Mawers

Captain Philip Lombard – Paul Cresser

Confident and resourceful, Lombard’s mysterious past includes time spent as a soldier. Do his boldness, cunning and easy charm mask something altogether more sinister? Lombard is instantly and vocally attracted to Vera, before events take a turn for the worst…

Vera Claythorne – Jess Capes

A former governess employed as Secretary to the mistress of Soldier Island, Vera is trying to escape a dark event from her past… Intelligent, alert and emotional, she quickly embarks on a sparky and flirtatious relationship with Captain Lombard.

Anthony Marston– Alex Mawers

This young, dashing, amoral playboy likes fast cars and flirting with the ladies. Once he arrives – having driven at break-neck speed from London and nearly running over Dr Armstrong in the process – he sets his sights on Vera and quickly pokes fun at Captain Lombard…

Please follow our progress in future blogs. Remember to tell your friends, family and colleagues about the show – and don’t forget to book early to get the seats you want.

SUP proudly presents Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE at NST Campus theatre from Wed 23-Sat 26 January 2019 – tickets from just £10. Concessions and group bookings available.

Welcome to suspicion, fear, paranoia and ‘get to know you’ games

Kicking off our latest series of production blogs, Paul Green is our first victim: a director and actor with a long and impressive theatrical CV, he also has some distinctly sinister plans to bump off cast members

This being my first show for SUP, I wanted to get to know the cast, and to help cast who were members new to the company to get to know the more established SUP players. The cast for AND THEN THERE WERE NONE includes performers who joined SUP in the last few months working alongside more longstanding members – it’s a 50/50 split, really, between “old” and “new”. And of course, I’m a relatively new member of the team myself.

Paul Green is directing Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE for SUP Theatre Company

To me, simply starting rehearsals “cold” can throw everybody slightly, so we started the entire process with a four-hour session of exercises, on a Sunday, to get to know each other. This was, in part, about developing trust and team-working among the company members.

The first exercise, the “Name Game” – which we still play at the start of every rehearsal session – has a number of purposes. It’s for everyone to learn everybody else’s real name as well as their character name, to get them used to establishing eye contact, and getting them used to doing and thinking three things at once (which is, as I keep telling them, the basis of acting). If you can imagine mentally patting your head and rubbing your stomach and reciting the alphabet all at the same time, you get the idea. The cast has embraced this after persevering and the determination shown has been impressive. Much hilarity is also derived from identifying who is establishing eye contact and where you should walk and to whom (it takes too long to explain, but you should play it some time).

I also introduced the cast to “Flying”, which is pretty much as it sounds. Only one intrepid cast member did it to begin with, but after seeing what it entails, everyone took part, with one or two people still having to be convinced. You’ll see some pictures here.

We then played a game known as “Killer” or “Wink Murder” to introduce the cast to the feelings of paranoia and suspicion that I’ll be foregrounding in our production. In this game, one person is secretly chosen as the murderer and winks at their victims when no-one is looking. The victim then “dies” as spectacularly as possible in a way that also misdirects. So, as you can imagine if you know any members of this cast, the “spectacular death” aspect was really underplayed (the longest death scene was timed at more than two minutes). The more you play it, the more extreme the deaths are, and the more paranoid everyone becomes… precisely what I was aiming for.

Of course, we got through far more than just these games on the day, with everyone throwing themselves into the activities wholeheartedly – and we had a lot of fun while working hard to build a strong basis for teamwork and the underlying themes of the production.

Please follow our continued progress in future blogs from various people and different directions and of course, please remember to tell your friends, family and colleagues about the show – and don’t forget to book early yourself.

SUP proudly presents Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE at NST Campus theatre from Wed 23-Sat 26 January 2019 – tickets from just £10. Concessions and group bookings available.

It’s a wrap

This week’s guest blogger is Stephen Fenerty, SUP co-chair. He reflects on the performance nights for our October one-act plays – and on a great audience reaction

First and foremost, a huge thank you to our wonderful audiences. 70-plus people enjoyed the Friday night double-bill, with that number swelling to more than 90 on the Saturday – which meant we were almost at capacity in the Rose Theatre and, more importantly, ensuring a great audience response for our casts.

And what a group of performers! 13 actors and actresses across the two plays, with more than half appearing in their first productions for SUP. And everybody did us proud, so a big thank you to our wonderful casts. Here’s a slide show, from rehearsals to get-in, show nights and after-show party…

With the Rose Theatre at Barton Peveril College providing a bar for the first time, our audiences refreshed themselves at the interval before returning to their seats for THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND by Tom Stoppard.

The longer of the two plays – 65 minutes compared to 35 minutes for the first half – this had the audience in stitches with its smart blend of satire, word play and slapstick, with excellent surreal performances and comic turns from an ensemble cast: Nick Hayward and Tim Ellwood, Paul Jones, Sarah Fergusson, Lee Barden, Jake Williams, Meg Britton, Carolina Scott, and not forgetting Andrew Clarke as the most convincing corpse on an SUP stage since Sophia in Dirk Gently.

Special thanks, of course, go to our brilliant behind-the-scenes team and tech crew, who make it all happen, including directors David Green and Kevin Bowers, along with Duncan Lang, Clayton Peters, Steve Town, Olly Trojak, John Peters and others. Thanks for all your help and continued support: we couldn’t do it without you!

Lady Stoppard, Sabrina Guinness, with the SUP secretary and co-chairs

We were also delighted on the Friday night to welcome Lady Stoppard, Sabrina Guinness. While she’d read THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND she had never seen it performed – and said she enjoyed the show hugely. Sir Tom, who couldn’t attend because he’s currently immersed in writing a new play, sent a handwritten ‘good luck’ message to cast and crew.

A sneak preview of our next production: the Ten Little Soldiers themselves. Click here to book for Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

When we plan and perform these one-acts, in addition to our ‘usual’ annual cycle of Totton Festival and January production at NST Campus, our objective is to provide more opportunities for SUP members to get involved, especially our new members, and to give audiences more opportunities to see our work.

There are obviously costs associated with putting on a show: licensing for the scripts (per night) plus set, costumes, props, van hire, and of course venue hire – the latter tending to be the main budget item. While we always try to “beg and borrow” wherever possible, using items for low or no cost, some of these costs are fixed. And there’s always a risk we may lose money on a production: you can never really tell if you’re going to attract an audience, despite your best marketing efforts and word-of-mouth.

Our objective is to at least break even, because it means we’re not eating into our reserves – but making a little profit is always great news, as it means we can carry on what we’re doing and provide even more opportunities.

I’m happy to report that while the final “profit and loss” accounts are still being finalised, it appears we have made a small profit on our Two Murderous Comedies. So thank you, once again, to all cast, crew and others at SUP who make it all possible – and, of course, to our audiences.

We hope to see you all at NST Campus 23-26 January 2019 for what promises to a rip-roaring production: Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE – with tickets from just £10

A Jolly Sinister Jape: a director’s journey part 2

This week’s guest blogger is director Kevin Bowers, currently rehearsing A Jolly Sinister Jape for SUP. He was previously seen for SUP, bless him, sporting a rather fetching wet-suit in Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Kevin writes…

Dear reader, we last spoke on 3rd September, so it’s high time for an update.

Rehearsals are progressing at quite a pace. The cast know their lines, their moves and – importantly – are having fun. There is a real sense of teamwork and genuine collaboration in the rehearsal room. and the characters in the script are coming to life; lovely. The humour on the page is filling the room and making me laugh out loud. And of course, it’s not always been plain sailing. Choreographing some of the scenes has been a challenge, for sure. A flying glass in particular has taken a huge amount of practice and I’m sure we’ll need to keep using the plastic stunt double for a while yet.

Biffy, played by Martin ‘Timber’ Kelly, is fortunately quick to recover from being hit with a poker, and then being stepped over and dropped by the “caring” and rather dashing Italian Lord Stubbs, played by real-life Italian Michele Zadra. And, of course, famous actress Ophelia LeBobo played by Naomi Scott is the third side of this triangle. The chemistry between these three characters as they unwittingly vie for affection is palpable and electric. Their comic disdain is clear and the comedic bitterness oozes out.

When this trio are joined by a mysterious stranger, the dynamic of the group has to change and sides are chosen. The newcomer, played by Kerrie Brady, regales them with stories of foreign travels and loves lost, but who exactly is she? Come and find out at Eastleigh’s Rose Theatre in October – you can book here

It’s been a fulfilling experience for me to work with such an engaged and enthusiastic cast. They’ve really bonded and supported each other. This was very apparent as the scripts were, begrudgingly, put down, and some lines were difficult to recall. They treated each other patiently and were reassuring throughout. Nobody has been backwards in coming forward with suggestions and ideas for what their character could do, or how to say something, and all have been willing to try things suggested by the director others in the cast.

With less than three weeks to go, I’m confident we’ll be giving our audiences a very, very funny show. Don’t forget to book!

A JOLLY SINISTER JAPE is on a double bill with THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND at Eastleigh’s Rose Theatre, 19th-20th October 2018. Tickets are only £11 standard and £9.50 concessions – with no booking fees payable

Great Scott!

My public want to hear from me? Well, I suppose that that’s no surprise. After all, I am the famous Ophelia La Bobo. You’ve probably seen me in films such as ‘The Attack of the Killer Jelly’. And of course I have another one just around the corner. I can’t wait to start work on ‘The Curse of the Human Dung Beetle’.

Working in film is so thrilling. The lights… the people… the fame! And my characters get to have such marvellous adventures.

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I’m an adventurer at heart – so long as I don’t get muddy or break a nail.

Can you believe that some people actually go to far-off lands where they traipse through forests and mountains, sleeping outside and drinking from rivers? How ghastly! Some even jump out of aeroplanes! How silly.

But it’s true that I yearn for more excitement. It’s not my husband Biffy’s fault that he’s such a bore. But of all the men that I could have married, I really would have imagined someone more interesting – perhaps with an exotic accent?

Oh, the show? Well, it’s a bit of a step backwards appearing in theatre rather than on the silver screen, of course, but it’s good for one to remember one’s roots. And of course I know that my public will appreciate being able to see me in the flesh. The Rose Theatre, you say? Where’s that? Eastleigh? Never heard of it. No matter. I’m sure that it will be positively ripping!

You can see Naomi in person as Ophelia in A JOLLY SINISTER JAPE – on a double bill with THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND at Eastleigh’s Rose Theatre, 19th-20th October 2018. Tickets are only £11 standard and £9.50 concessions – with no booking fees payable. Click here to book tickets